Shinigami to Karitenshi
by Merore
Summary: Title: 'The God of Death and the Angel of Light'. Duo has had a guardian angel watching over him since birth. And after a near fatal event, he can see her once again. (But is that such a good thing...?)
1. Prolouge

The idea for this fic came to me after hearing the song "Wonderful" by Everclear. Well, the first part of it did. And the last part of it came to me listening to "Tonight, and the Rest of my Life" by Nina Roberts. I guess those could be the opening and ending songs to my fic. Next I should say yes, this is a Gundam/Sailormoon crossover and yes, it is an Usa/Duo romance fic. But it's not all WAFF. If either of those things bother you, you can click the 'back' button right now.

Oh, and Gundam Wing does not belong to me. I'm glad because I don't want Heero and Wufei running around my house. But I'd be happy to rent Duo and Quatre! ^_- Gundam belongs to TV Asashi or something. I forget. The point is it's not mine and I have no money. Suing me would be pointless. Usagi Tsukino also does not belong to me. For this, I am forever saddened. ;_; She belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, in partner with Kodansha and Toei. She was leased by DiC and CloverWay.   
On with the story!

Shinigami to Karitenshi   
[God of Death and Angel of Light]   
by [Metal Angel Michelle][1]   


Flashback   
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Duo...." feathers blew all around. The sound of wings flapping echoed in the air. And silky blonde hair slid through his fingers. "Daijobo?"   
"Who... are you?" A six year old boy turned to stare into a pair of beautiful blue eyes. Like a pair of glittering sapphires.   
"Daijobo ka?"

She was tiny, but obviously no older than him. The eyes grew worrisome, and her adorable mouth turned to a pout. "Anata wa o hanashimasuka?"   
Duo shook his head. He couldn't understand what she was saying. He grabbed her hands, and the girl gasped.   
"What are you trying to say?!" Duo yelled.   
The girl shifted slightly in his grip, and began to speak again, "I couldn't understand you. I was asking if you were all right."   
Her voice was high, and soft. 'Why weren't you listening to her before?'   
"I'm fine. But, what language were you speaking? And why can I understand you now? And just who are you?!"   
The girl threaded her fingers through his hand.   
"My name is Usagi. I think we can understand each other, because we're touching. I was speaking Japanese, and you're lying."   
Duo drew away from her and asked, "What?"

She looked confused and floated toward him. Floating? He could hear wings again. Wings... Now that he wasn't so close, he looked at her again. Her blonde hair was long and flowing, reaching all the way to her feet. She was wearing a spaghetti strap white dress that stop mid thigh, but no shoes. And most impressive of all, was the pair of wings that were growing from her back. They were pure white, but had a silver sparkle when she moved them.   
"Nani?" Oh, that's right. He took her hand in his again.   
"What do you mean, I'm lying?" She was very strange.   
"I mean, I can feel that you're not all right. What happened?"   
"My parents... my parents are dead. I... really... miss them." Duo tried to relate his problems, but it was too hard. Usagi put one hand underneath his chin and lightly kissed Duo's cheek. She fluttered her wings slightly, using the feathers to tickle him. Duo smiled, slightly.   
"Please don't cry. I can promise you that you're parents are okay in heaven and I can promise you that everything will be all right in the end." she smiled.   
"Why can't you promise everything will be all right now?"   
"Because it would be a lie. But I can promise that one day, everything will be wonderful. And until that day, I'll protect you. That's what a guardian angel is for, right?" Usagi broke out in a smile, and then began to giggle. Her laugh was infectious. Like little glass bells... As her giggling faded...   
Duo awoke then. "Are you still here, Usagi?"   
Near a crumbling wall, the shadow of a wing fluttered. A shimmering little girl stepped from the darkness.   
"Hai. Demo, watashi wa wakarimasen desu yo."   
He reached for her, but she was translucent, and slipped right through his fingers.   
"Well, we'll figure something out."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*   
"Heh." Duo carefully made sure no one was looking, then began to take apples from the street vendor's cart.   
'Duo-chan, abunai!' One of the few words he'd been able to pick up. Watch out. Sure enough, the vendor swung at him with a broom, which Duo easily dodged.   
"You stupid kids!"   
'This way, Duo.' Usagi directed him down another path, with the other boys following.   
'Oh no! Look out for that...' *crash* 'priest.' Usagi sighed, and flitted away a bit. She couldn't do anything to the Father, and she was slightly afraid he would know she was there.   
"Sorry. Sorry." Duo apologized.   
"Hey! Get back here!" The vendor had followed them.   
"Well, seeya!" Duo vaulted over the priest's head and kept on down the alley, and out of his pursuer's sight.

-4 years later-   
"No... father maxwell... sister helen.... THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!!" Duo yelled into the sky.   
He had come back to the church only to find it burned to the ground. The father was dead. The sister had died in his arms. "Everybody... near me... dies."

Usagi wrapped her arms around him from behind, but Duo quickly shrugged her off.   
"Gomen ne. Gomen nasai."   
She moved to touch him, but he backed away.   
"Leave me alone! Why will you protect me, but all these innocent people must die?! From now on, I never want to see you again! God is dead! Angels are fairy tales! YOU DON'T EXIST!!"

Usagi could barely understand him. After spending her entire... her entire afterlife with this boy, she'd been able to learn a little English, but it still wasn't all that clear.   
"God is dead! YOU DON'T EXIST!!"   
She gasped and backed away. She fully understood that phrase. Because if he didn't think she was there. She frowned and her eyes held infinite sadness. It looked as if she wanted to cry, but couldn't.   
"Duo... iie.."   
She could feel herself become light headed. Could angels be light headed? Apparently so. Everything was spinning, and becoming blurry. Yes, this must be what happened when your charge refused to acknowledge you. What power words had... She would stay tied to him, but she couldn't communicate. Only a few seconds left.   
"Good... bye.."   
Duo watched as Usagi's form shifted into mist. The apparition left. Gone, that angel of death. 'You'll forget her soon. She was never real anyway.'   
"God is dead... only the God of Death still remains. How ironic."   
With and insane glint in his eye, Duo laughed.

(It's too much. A little boy shouldn't have such a burden.) Usagi watched, feeling farther from the living than ever.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-   
End Flashback

You may all be wondering exactly what Usagi was saying, right? I'll tell you, but it's not really vital info. It's also extremely bad Japanese, so I wouldn't try to use it like that or anything. Okay, 'Daijobo (ka)?' means 'are you all right?'   
'Anata wa o hanshimasuka'='You're speaking what?'   
'nani'='what?'   
"Hai. Demo, watashi wa wakarimasen desu yo." I'm sure I screwed this up. I was using it as "Yes, however I can't understand you."   
'abunai'= 'Watch out!'   
'Gomen ne. Gomen nasai'= 'I'm Sorry. Very sorry.'   
'iie'='no'   
There you have it. Usagi won't be using Japanese to this extent later. By then she'll have been around Duo long enough to pick up English. (Or whatever it is they speak.)   
  
  


   [1]: mailto:tenshiko@yahoo.com



	2. Chapter One

Well, here we are at part two (or the first chapter) of 'Shinigami to Akaritenshi'. Now, we go back to the present. Wai! Normal Duo. Of course, Chibi-Duo is cute too. ^_^ Yeah, the scene with the priest, and the destruction of the church is from Episode Zero. It's not correctly translated though. I..used my creative license. ^_^;   
Oh, and I'm reaaally sorry this took forever to get out, but I DID say that I had no idea where to take this. So, chapters may be far between. (That and I scrapped the original of what you're about to read) BUT I am writing three other fic's that DO have direction. So those should be out sooner. But enough about me...^_~

Shinigami to Karitenshi   
by: [Metal Angel Michelle][1]

Chapter One   
--------------   
She watched Duo wander about the streets, his eyes darkened by the hardships he'd gone through at such a tender age. She watched him hold back tears every night, whispering to himself "Boys don't cry. Boys don't cry..." and she shared his sorrow. Sometimes she would try to comfort him; wrap her arms around him as he choked back sobs. But it was no use for he had totally shut out her presence. They both suffered in silence.   
Years passed, and as he grew, she grew as well. After all, she had been much older when she died. She had been....had been....   
"I've forgotten it. My memory is getting worse with each year. Who was I? How did I die? Why am I with Duo? No, wait. I know the answer to that one." she smiled to herself. She jumped up, and sat down on the huge machine that Duo was currently tuning up. Her legs dangled into the cockpit area, and if her hair was tangible it would have been quite distracting as it fell onto Duo's arm.    
Gundam. That was what they had called it. Duo called it Deathscythe. Usagi would have blinked back tears if she could still cry. He had been working on it for a few months now, preparing for something called 'Operation Meteor'. Not even Duo knew what it really was.   
Usagi was bored. She had been for a long time now. No one to talk to, nothing to do. Just sit there and watch the boy grow. Recently, she had been trying to get him to see her again, trying to touch him but it never worked. Although she had managed to control other objects and move them. It was odd, being able to walk on the ground, or sit on a table (or Gundam) but still not being physically there. It was just...strange to her.   
"Ah, darnit! Where'd I put that disk?!" Duo groaned.   
Usagi noticed the disk next to her position and discreetly pushed it into the cockpit, right on to Duo's head.   
"Ow! What the...hey! I was looking for you!"   
She giggled at his actions. She had finally learned to speak his language too. Of course, after spending years and years around someone, you're bound to pick something up....   
_"It's so all right!_   
_May be too right!_   
_Someday surely --- come to light!_   
_It's so all right!_   
_May be too right!_   
_Hey you! You're very patient, huh? ---_   
_I'm already tired of waiting..."_   
She recognized that song. She heard him singing it a lot, and practically had the words memorized by now. He really did have a nice voice. Although she kind of wondered where he picked it up. She'd been with him all his life, and never heard anyone else sing it. That was just a little strange. Okay her entire life....umm, afterlife was strange. Usagi laughed to herself and started singing along.   
_"I'm bored_   
_Coming day by day is frustration_   
_Surely it won't be just this ---_   
_Yet no choice but to leave…"_   
--------------   
In twenty twenty hindsight, Duo decided that perhaps is _hadn't_ been a very good idea to steal a new weapon that was under high surveillance, and well protected. But of course, there was no way he was letting Deathscythe be used to destroy a colony. And he really couldn't bring himself to destroy it either.    
"Heh. Looks like it's just you and me now good buddy." Duo muttered to his Gundam as he sped out of the hangar. They were still headed for Earth, but a far cry from the original mission. They were headed to stop the Earth Sphere Alliance. Who did they think they were, trying to subjugate the colonies?    
Had Duo been paying more attention to his surroundings, and less to his moral outrage, it can be certain that he would have noticed the rather large number of mobile suits that were beginning to cluster around him. As it was, when he did notice them his assessment of the situation could be summed up in two words:   
"Aw, shit."   
Carefully manipulating Deathscythe's controls, Duo managed to evade a good portion of the suits. 'I've got to get to Earth. Almost there.' With a quick swipe of the thermal scythe, three mobile suits were decimated. Quo grinned slightly at his work, and continued to his destination.    
Once again, however, he was caught off guard when several blasts hit him from behind, sending his Gundam spiraling out of control and down into Earth's atmosphere. To make matters worse, the jolt threw Duo forward, causing him to hit his head against the view screen.   
'Feh. What a lousy way to go.' Were his last thoughts, before he blacked out entirely.   
Bright. There was no other way to describe it. It was just....bright. He closed his eyes to shut out the light, but there was still this sense that everything was much lighter than it should be. Was this what being dead was like? Somehow he always thought it would be so much darker. 'Am I dead?'   
"You can open your eyes now." A rather amused voice floated through his ears. "And no, you're not dead. Not yet."   
Blinking, he did as he was asked. Now, standing before him was an exquisite creature. Long blonde hair fell about her in a way that seemed to defy gravity. It was long, done up into two buns on either side of her head, but still falling to her feet. Strands here and there caressed her body or moved as if she was underwater. She wore a simple, almost transparent white dress that tied on her shoulders, and came about mid thigh. And her eyes...   
She had the most beautiful blue eyes. Like a cool blue sky. Or maybe a calm ocean, so deep that you would drown in them. Or...Duo remembered one night in December when he was young. He had no place to stay, and had found himself sitting huddled in an alleyway, trying to keep from freezing to death. By chance, he looked up. The moon was full, and...blue. Pale white and cloud's tinted the moon a cold blue. But as he looked at it, he wasn't cold anymore. It was that freezing, warmth. That was what her eyes reminded him of: A blue moon.   
"Who...who are you?" Duo stuttered, as she moved gracefully closer to him.   
"Me?" she smiled, and it go brighter again. "I'm just....you're guardian variety angel."   
She laughed. Like little silver bells. So caught up in the sound, he hadn't realized just how close she was to him now. Slender arms wound their way around his neck, pulling him closer to her. Cool blue eyes stared into his deep indigo, almost into his soul. Duo gulped, and tried to pull away.   
"Hey....what are you-"   
"Shh...listen. I'm sorry, but it's the only way." she was getting closer still, swan like neck craning to bridge the gap between them. "..and.." now her lips just barely brushed against his own. Duo shivered at her touch, could suddenly feel his muscles tense.    
"..I've missed you." she finished her sentiments against his mouth, sealing the thought with a kiss. The world spun. It was chaste and sweet, and she tasted lightly of strawberries, champagne and slow sunset's. Whatever a slow sunset tasted like. Somehow he was sure this was it.    
As she pulled away, Duo was filled with a sense of indescribable loss, missing something he didn't know he needed to begin with. And the world continued to spin, and the light around him got dimmer, the girl in front of him faded away. All that was left was a gray haze and the tingling sensation left by her lips.   
--------------   
Usagi looked down at Duo, her hands clasped in prayer that it would work. It was _supposed_ to work. If it didn't work...well, she would have failed, and she wasn't sure what would happen if she failed. She didn't want to know. Even though she had been mad at him for a little bit, for leaving her all alone, she just couldn't stay that way. All Usagi wanted to do was protect him.    
'I wonder if I'm made to feel that way? No, I don't think so...' She cared for him now. Much too deeply. She hated to admit it, but she enjoyed that dream. Unconsciously, her hand moved to her lips.    
She had spent too much time with him. Felt that she knew him better than anyone else ever could. And she...   
'No. No, it's not allowed. I won't say it.'   
Any other thought was quickly chased from her mind, as she heard Duo begin to cough up the salt water he had inhaled before she had been able to get him ashore. (That had been quite a task. Lucky for her those dolphins could see her.)    
"Oh, thank god." she cried and rushed to his side. It had been so frustrating, only being able to sit and watch and pray while he was three feet away and dying.   
"You'll be fine now, I'm sure of it. Now everything's going to go fine. I just have to figure out how to get Deathscythe out of the water. Luckily it's all in one piece... But I can't believe there was a second Gundam down there too.." Usagi knew she was babbling, but she didn't care. He couldn't hear her anymore, and talking out loud had always helped her thought process. (Had it? She couldn't remember anymore)   
"Geez babe, slow down. My head is killing me." Duo groaned and turned towards the source of the incessant chatter that was blocking out his thoughts.   
Usagi gasped as he turned to her, and blue and indigo met once more.   
[_It's so all right!_   
_May be too right!_   
_An angel jested --- come to light!_   
_It's so all right!_   
_May be too right!_   
_Hey you! From continuing to wait,_   
_Look --- even a miracle happens!_]

Blegh. I HATED that first scene, where Duo escapes. Hate it. I wrote it, and re-wrote it four   
times. I still think it's too vague and convoluted. >_ Oh well, that's why I have second editions.   
So, I'm really sorry it's short, but I wanted to get this out. I have some _really _good ideas that   
keep bouncing through my head and I want to work on them. But people seem to really like this   
story so...*shrugs* When I think of what to write, I'll write more.   
Oh, by the way. That song is one of Duo's image songs, and it totally rocks! It's really in   
Japanese though. (It's called 'It's So Alright') I just used the translated one because...well...   
Duo's not really Japanese! Go try to find it, because it's pretty fun to listen to. It's also one   
of the multitude of songs that inspire me when I write this. ^_^   
Until later, ja!

   [1]: mailto:chimera_1983@yahoo.com



	3. Chapter Two - Full Version

s-k3 Okay, okay! It's finished this time, see? I think I know how to get through this story now. (I was originally going to have the GW plot line with Usagi there too, but that would just be soooo boring for me to write.) Hopefully, I'll be able to write faster now. To everybody whose been mad at my slowness, I have to things to say: 

1) I'm sorry. I didn't think people would like this story when I started writing it. It was kind of a throw-away side project. Unplanned, and fairly sporadic. So it's been hard for me to write it.   
2) I had schoolwork. I kind of wanted to graduate from high school and all. And RIGHT AFTER graduation I left the country. So no free time. Well...until now. *grins evilly* So here we go: 

Oh yeah...I didn't explain it before, but 'Dokenai' means naive, and 'Dokenaiyo' would mean something like 'How naive'. Umm...I think. 'yo' is a weird suffix.   


  
****
Shinigami to Karitenshi   
Chapter 2 

Usagi blinked. Duo blinked.   
A moment suspended in time as the simply stared at each other. Then, like wind up dolls starting up, they slowly began to move again. Usagi first, by putting a hand to her mouth and taking a step backwards. 

"You can see me?" Usagi gasped.   
"Yeah. Shouldn't I?" Duo questioned back.   
"You just...you haven't ever been able to for a while." Usagi shifted her feet in the sand, and suddenly found the ground to be fascinating. 

The golden girl digging her feet into the beach looked familiar to Duo, but he couldn't quite place where he'd seen her before. Which annoyed him, because he doubted he'd forget a face like hers. She was absolutely gorgeous. A little pale though...   
Just then, the obvious slapped Duo across the face. 

"Hey! You're that girl! From my dream!" Duo yelled. 'The one who kissed me..' he added silently. 

The girl did something similar to a blush but not quite. She winced and hunched her shoulders over a little, embarrassed.   
"Sorry 'bout that. It was tha ONLY way ta get'cha back here. I know it's kinda odd but...it's the rule." she was babbling again. 

Duo's ego deflated a little. He'd never had a girl apologize for kissing him. Especially for a nice kiss like that. Wait...gorgeous, nice kiss....focus Duo! There are more important things at hand here. Girls could come later. Right now he had to worry about how she knew about his Gundam. Quickly, he leveled his gun at her, wiping any trace of mirth from his face. If she really did know about Death Scythe, either she was from Project Meteor, or she was a spy sent to get rid of him. Either way, her fate was sealed. 

"Well, lady, I'm sorry too. It's nothing personal you see, but nobody who lays eyes on my Gundam can live." 

Duo had expected her to be at least a little scared. At worst, maybe she wouldn't react at all, or attack him. But instead, she just burst out laughing. 

"Dokenaiyo!" she exclaimed between giggles. "Geez, Duo! Ya can't shoot me. It wouldn't do no good to try it either. But'ya can if ya like to see..." 

Duo scowled at her arrogance (as he perceived it) and fueled by her mocking tone, he took at aim and shot her in the shoulder. He instantly regretted it. 

"Oh, geez! Lady, I'm sorry I-" he stopped when he noticed she was simply staring at him, and there were no visible wounds, no blood anywhere on her.   
'Impossible! I'm not that bad a shot...' 

She simply sighed, in a way a teacher does when they need to repeat a common fact. 

"You can't bleed if you don't have blood, Duo." 

Duo stared wordlessly at the girl for a few seconds. Had she just read his mind? Naaw...he probably just didn't have a very good poker face. He'd have to work on that. For a second more, he considered the situation. Then Duo burst out laughing much like Usagi had moments before. Slowly, he made his way closer to Usagi, who had her arms crossed over her chest and a very put out expression on her face. 

"Yeah, right! Good joke! No, really, you moved didn't you? You must be pretty fast to dodge a bullet like that, huh babe? Are you sure you're okay? Here, let me check-" 

Duo cut off for the second time, when the hand that was _supposed_ to end up on Usagi's shoulder ended up on the other side of her back. He looked at her suspiciously, and moved to grab her upper arm, but again his hand passed right through. Wrist, nothing. Waist, nothing (damn). Chest....I don't think so. Finally, Duo stepped full in front of Usagi, stared deep into her eyes, leaned forward and... 

...pushed his arm through her stomach. 

"Whoa." Was all that he could say, as he twisted his arm around, and passed it through her stomach a few times. 

"Could you not do that? It's making me feel a little sick..." Usagi bit her lip and stepped back. "Does Gundanium rust?" 

"What?" Duo shook his head. Where had that come from? 

"Does Gundanium rust? Death Scythe is still at the bottom of the ocean, you know." Usagi tilted her head to the side a little. "That _is_ what started this entire thing to begin with." 

Somewhere in the back of Duo's head, some backwards old man was singing:   
__'There's a hole in the bucket,   
__Dear Liza, Dear Liza,   
__There's a hole in the bucket,   
__Dear Liza, a hole.' 

"Then let's fix it." Usagi smiled over her shoulder and headed out to the ocean. 

"Hey wait! That waters' freezing! You might drown!" 

"Duo, I'm already dead!" 

"Oh. Right. I knew that." 

Thankfully, Usagi could no longer see him, or respond in any way. That he could hear at least. Duo let out a long breath and flopped down on the beach. She was certainly...different. Hadn't he always been taught that angels were beautiful golden haired women that...okay, that part was right. But weren't they supposed to have wings? And harps? And be sweet and motherly? Usagi definitely didn't seem like anyone's mother. She was like him. Except she was a total babe. It was too bad he couldn't touch her... 

'She's dead.' 

And then there was that whole dead thing again. That was going to take some getting used to. Except... 

********************Flashback********************   
__ Duo walked to school, eyes downcast and mouth pouting. A girl of his age, about six, skipped happily along beside him, blonde pigtails bobbing with each step. She was humming to herself, and seemed unaware of the ill spirits of her companion. 

_"I can't believe I gotta go to school wearin' this!" Duo muttered, gesturing to his clothes._

_"I think it's cute!" the girl chirped, as she surveyed Duo's clothing. He was dressed in a long black smock, with a collar similar to a priest's. A silver cross hung from his neck, and stood out against the dark of his other clothing. It was formal clothing for Maxwell Church. _

_"You think everything's cute." Duo replied sourly._

_"Yep." Usagi giggled and then spun around, causing her own white dress to flare out. "Aren't you excited Duo?! You get to go meet new people! You get to learn about....about...everything! I remember my first day of school...."_

_ Usagi sighed, and a wistful expression replaced her happy one._

_"How could anyone like school so much."_

_"Oh, I hate school." At Usagi's words, Duo nearly tripped. _

_"But...but you just..."_

_ Usagi laughed again._

_"Race you to class!" she called over her shoulder and took off down the street._

_"Hey!" Duo whined as he took off after her. "No fair! YOu got a head start! And you can walk through mailboxes!"___

_ It turned out that due to Usagi's little race, Duo managed to get to school on time. That would later prove to have been something of a minor miracle. For now, all Duo would do was complain.___

_"..and I almost ran into some lady and her dog thanks to you, not ta mention I hit my side on a mailbox, and I'll prolly have a bruise tomorrow..."___

_ Usagi just rolled her eyes, and ignored the boys. However, a group of other boys could not do the same. They stared at Duo, or to them: "That funny new kid who talks to himself." ___

_"What's he doing,?" one asked.___

_"It looks like he's talking to a tree." answered another.___

_"He must be some kind of freak." said a third. "Look at his clothes."___

_ As the students filed in, Duo stood uncomfortable before the class, and introduced himself. The teacher smiled, and indicated he should take the empty seat near the back. As Duo was walking to his seat, one of the boy's from earlier, Patrick, stuck out his foot, tripping Duo. The class giggled a bit under their breath as Duo brushed himself off. Usagi scowled, took a deep breath, and blew the note papers on Patricks' desk out the open window. The boy scrambled to catch them, and the class laughed even harder.___

_ Patrick glared at Duo as the teacher called for the class to settle down, but Usagi just smiled and winked at Duo, who mouthed silently, "Thanks Usagi."_   
********************End Flashback********************

"Usagi..."

"Duo!" The focus of his thoughts broke through his trip down memory lane. "I think you need to see this!" 

Usagi was floating just a little above the war, several meters out. Her eyes were wide, and she was motioning for him to come quickly to where she was. 

"Huh?" 

"Oh never mind! I'll do it myself." 

She disappeared below the surface once again. But this time, the water moved where she had once been floating, the water churned and created small currents that suggested something was coming ashore. Because of course something was. A rather large something. The head of Death Scythe emerged after a moment, as it stomped it's was to the shore. But it wasn't alone. 

It was towing with it a second mobile suit. It seemed to be having a little trouble towing the second mech out of the water, and Duo wasn't surprised with that. (He was however, surprised that his Gundam appeared to be possessed) From the looks of it, Usagi had found another Gundam. That meant that it's pilot was probably close by as well. Another Gundam pilot... 

Duo looked once more at the two figures, one kneeling in the surf of the beach, and the other looking vaguely like a lifeless china doll. And Usagi, perched happily on top of Death Scythe. Duo had only one thing to say. 

"Whoah."   
  
  



	4. Chapter Three

Hey. A lot of things happened to prevent me from writing. And then I lost all my inspiration. I think I'm doing a little better now, though. So, I'm going to work on the three stories I have out now. I won't do anything else until Scintilla Supernova and this story are finished, except maybe a songfic. Also, I've decided that I'll beta-read stories now. So if you want to be your editor, just e-mail me and we can work something out, and get it back to you as soon as possible. Ja! Enjoy the story! 

Shinigami to Karitenshi   
Chapter 3 

_Patrick hauled his arm back, and punched Duo in the stomach again. Duo sagged, being held up by the two boys on either side of him, friends of Patrick's. They had been restraining him ever since his fist had caught the side of Patrick's face. He'd struggled at first, but after the rain of kicks and punches, he'd lost the energy to fight back. Somewhere in the back of his brain he could hear Usagi's voice as she tried to pull the boys off of him. Quite a task, considering they didn't even know she was there._

_"Stop it! Leave him alone!" Usagi yelled, as she tugged at the boy's who were holding Duo up._

_"Che." Patrick wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. "You're from St. Maxwell's ain'tcha? I betcha live there 'cuz you're crazy, huh? Yeah, I saw you talkin' to yerself. Why don't you stay at St. Maxwell's with all those other freaks left over from the war."_

_ Usagi was livid. Her eyes were narrow slits, and her jaw was clenched. Her hands began to curl into fists, and Duo wasn't quite sure if maybe he'd been sock in the head a time too many, or perhaps steam was rising from the girl's face._

_"THAT'S what this is about?!" she screamed. "You children...if MY daughter ever said anything so CRUEL and DIMWITTED I'd..I'd...I don't know WHAT I'd do to her, but I KNOW what I'm going to do to you!"_

_ And she dissapeared._

_ At first Duo was a little dissapointed. He'd really expected the wrath of god to come down on the boys, maybe a sudden bolt of lightning, or SOMETHING. But as Patrick leaned to hit him again, a strong hand caught him from behind._

_"Is there a problem here, boys?" Headmaster Mullens stood over Patrick, frowning in disapproval._

_"Why, no. No problem at all, Mister Mullens. We were just..." Patrick froze, and blinked. For a moment he moved his mouth, but no sound came out and then... "We were just beating the tar out of Duo. Because he's not like us. And I knew I'd get away with it, because you're such a senile old bat. You couldn't punish us if you tried."_

_ Patrick stared up at the Headmaster in horror, belatedly covering his mouth with his hands. Mullens simply stared down with an icy glare, seething internally._

_"I think that's quite enough from you. We'll see if a caning won't improve your attitude, hm? And then there will be a talk with your parents about your future at this establishment." Headmaster Mullens took Patrick by the arm, dragging him back into the building._

_ With nothing really left to do, the two boys dropped Duo and wandered off, hoping to keep away from the Headmaster's wrath. Duo coughed, holding his ribs._

_"Usagi?" he questioned._

_"Someone once told me possession is nine tenths of the law." he heard her voice somewhere through the pain. "I think they were right."_

_ Duo chuckled but then winced in pain. Usagi noticed, and began to hover over him in worry._

_"Duo? Duo...? ....Duo...."_

"Duo...wake up." A soft hand was pushing on my shoulder gently, to wake me up carefully in case it was another nightmare. In a way, it was, just not the kind she was thinking of. I smiled up at her to reassure her, my eyes still out of focus from sleep. She smiled back, and leaned in next to me. 

"Hilde..." I yawn, and stretch my legs. The shuttle seats are cramped. "What's up." 

"I thought I should wake you. There's only a half hour before we land. We should be getting our things together soon." she replied. 

I nod, and watch her walk off down the row between the seats. Hilde had been really understanding about, well, about everything this past year. I had told her that she didn't have to come with me, and that it was my stuff to work through. But she insisted, saying it wasn't right to let me go through it all alone. Now I'm glad she came. She was right. 

Leaning back, I think through my dream. It's an old memory. Really old. I'm not quite sure why I'm think about it now, but I can guess. It's funny. I never really thought about what Usa said that day. 'If my daughter said anything so...'. Right, her daughter. I never thought to ask how someone her age could have a daughter. I never thought about it at all but now I wish I did. There was so much I didn't get to know. That I wish I had known. 

Maybe that's why I'm being drawn back, why I can't let go. I was so selfish, and there was so much I didn't get to tell her, so much we didn't get to do. I can't let go of her just yet. The sarcastic part of me is teasing me, mocking how the girl that was my angel has become a ghost. Her eyes will haunt me to the day I die. 

I don't really know when it started, but I can guess. After the war, I had too much free time on my hands. I was restless. And Usagi was nervous. I think now that she'd helped me through the hard times in my life, there was very little for her to do. But she was tethered to me. I should have told her that too...if I had to be tethered to someone I thanked God it was her. 

And I wanted to do something for her. She'd done so much...Mostly Usa was gaurded about who she was in life. At least that's how it seemed. 

********************Flashback********************** 

Night on Earth. Duo never thought space could be so pretty. And the moon...   
"From here it looks so calm." he said, mostly to himself. 

"Yes." Usagi replied. She was laying on the barge, looking up at the moon as well. "When I first saw it here...I couldn't believe it. What was done to the moon made me sad. It still does." 

"Why?" Duo looked up at her curiously. 

"I...I don't know." Usagi replied. She looked back up to the stars, in an attempt to avoid Duo's gaze. "I used to know. But a lot of it...who I was before...it's all faded. I know why I'm here. And I know all the important rules. But the longer I'm with you, the less I remember." 

"That's so sad." 

"Not really." Usagi's mouth quirked up into a half-smile. "Maybe if I still had my memories, I wouldn't be able to do as well as I should. Really Duo, it's probably for the best."

"I don't think so. I think that you should at least have those happy memories to hold onto, even though you're stuck in this hellhole. You should be able to remember happiness." Duo insisted.

"Oh? And what if my life wasn't happy?" Usagi asked. By the look on his face, it was obvious Duo hadn't thought of that. "Besides, I do have happy memories. You've given me happy memories." 

Her last words trailed off in a whisper, and for a moment neither really knew what to say. Duo sat up and rubbed his arms to ward off the chill of the night air, while he thought over what she had said.

"But still!" he decided stubbornly. "I promise, Usagi! That when we're done with this war, I promise I'll figure out how to make you remember!"

At those words, Duo nodded firmly, and Usagi just laughed softly at his conviction. She smiled, and settled back to watch the stars again. And even now, looking at the moon didn't bring quite as much sadness as it had a few moments ago.

********************End Flashback**********************

I wish I had listened to her then. I wish I had just been selfish. I wish...I wish a lot of things. But I was stubborn and so sure that I was doing something good for her. That's all I wanted, to give her something back. But...it turned out so wrong. So very wrong.

I wish a lot of things. But most of all, I wish Usagi would come back. 


End file.
